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Lessons and Sermons from the Longmire Road church of Christ in Conroe Texas USA
His fame grew exceedingly, and everywhere
that Jesus went,
there were always individuals following
him,
and sometimes even crowds of people
following him.
On one occasion, the Lord was on his way
to the Passover in Jerusalem,
and this is not the Passover in relation
to his death,
this was prior to that. But the Lord was
on his way to a Passover,
and as he was traveling to the Passover,
as he was traveling to Jerusalem,
There was a great crowd of people that
were following him.
And in this moment, as this great
multitude were going along with him
because
of who he was and what he had preached and
what he had done,
in that moment Jesus did something that
seemed out of place.
Jesus turned to the crowd and warned them
about following
him. Jesus cautioned them.
About going along with him and following
him.
Now, why would the Lord caution people
about following him?
Why would the Lord seek to warn
individuals about going along with
him or walking after him or following in
his footsteps?
After all, Jesus came to seek and to save
the lost.
Those individuals they needed salvation
and they were following him.
Why would he caution them? He came to be
their redeemer to bring about salvation.
Well, see, on that occasion, what the Lord
did is he taught
a foundational and critical principle in
as that relates or as
it relates to discipleship. It's a
principle that we don't often talk about.
It's a principle that should be at the
forefront of every teaching to those
who are outside of Christ. And on this
occasion,
the Lord is going to teach that principle,
and this is found in Luke chapter 14.
And so if you would, if Luke chapter 14
will be our springboard text,
if you will, or the text upon which this
sermon is founded.
The principle that the Lord sets forth in
Luke chapter 14 is a principle that Israel
heard in Joshua chapter 24. A principle
where Joshua stood in front of them
and also warned them about following God.
He issued a warning or a caution and then
left the decision up to them.
And he goes through the same things as the
Lord does.
Solomon wrote about it in Ecclesiastes and
in Proverbs,
this principle about counting the cost,
making sure that you understand what it is
that you're doing.
And in the Lord spoke about it in Luke
chapter 9 as well.
On another occasion, he would bring this
principle up again.
And the principle is that that before you
make a decision to become a
A follower of Christ, you must calculate
that decision.
You have to calculate that commitment.
You have to think about what it involves.
The Lord does not require blind service.
The Lord does not require us to follow Him
blindly and to throw,
if we'll our minds and our logic and our
reasoning to the wind and just follow
Him blindly. The Bible has never required
such.
And so it is the case in Luke chapter 14
that the Lord highlights three things
to the crowd that is following him,
three things for them to keep in mind
about following him.
He says, if you're going to follow me,
it's going to require three things that I
need you to think about before
you make the decision. He says it's going
to require separation,
number one. Number two, it's going to
require some sacrifice.
And then number three, it's going to
require some sensibility.
You're going to have to think about this
thing logically.
And so this morning for them and for us,
the lesson is laid out. And so let's
consider it that the first thing that
the Lord asked them to think about is
separation.
In Luke chapter 14, verses 25 and 26,
read it with me.
As we read verses twenty five and and only
the first part of verse twenty six,
it says, And there went great multitudes
with him,
and turned to him and and and he turned to
him,
to them, and said unto them, If anyone
comes after me and does not hate
his father or mother, wife and children,
brothers and sisters, yea, his own life,
he would say, he cannot be my disciple.
And so please do not misunderstand Jesus
or me this morning.
It is not the case that Jesus is asking
them to abandon their families.
Jesus is not saying that you need to
abandon your family and you need
to abandon your God-given responsibilities
to your family if you want to follow me.
No, that's cult behavior. That's what a
cult leader would tell you.
You need to abandon and don't listen.
That's that's not what Jesus is saying
here.
He is not asking you to hate your family
in the way we would normally think
of the word hate or use the word hate.
In Matthew chapter 10 and verse 37,
the language is a little bit more clear in
relation to how we understand it.
He says, He who loves father or mother
more than me is
not worthy of me. And he who loves son or
daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
And so the Lord is not talking about.
Hating per se, like we say, I hate this
individual,
but the idea here is that of preference.
It is the idea of loving him more than we
would love our own family.
If you want to be a disciple of Jesus the
Christ,
if you want to be a Christian,
if you want to be a follower of Christ,
are you willing to put me first?
Is what the Lord is saying. Are you
willing to prefer me above those
who are closest to you?
Are you willing to separate yourself from
those who are closest to you
if they are contrary to me? You have to
think about that before you follow me.
If there is a choice between following
your family or following the Lord,
are you willing to separate yourself from
them and stand with me?
That's the question God is asking them.
In Luke chapter 9, if you go there,
Luke chapter 9, verses 57 and 62.
The Lord addresses the same question,
or rather the same principle, in a
different setting.
It says in Luke chapter 9 and verses 57
and 62,
it says, And it came to pass that as they
went in the way,
a certain man said unto him, Lord,
I will follow thee whatsoever thou goest.
And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes,
and birds of the air have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his
head.
This is not referring to Jesus being
homeless.
That passage is not talking about the
homelessness of Jesus.
The passage has relation to the fact that
the foxes have the ability to retreat.
The birds have the ability to retreat to a
roost,
is a better term, not a nest, to a roost.
They are able to get away from danger.
The Lord is not. The Lord is about to head
into danger.
And he wants him to understand that you
have to understand that if
you come along with me.
There's no retreat. There's no running
away from what follows if you're going
to follow me. It's going to get dangerous.
But not only is it going to get dangerous,
he said, and another said unto him,
Follow me. He said unto another,
Follow me. But that individual said,
Lord, suffer me first to go bury my
father.
Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury
their dead,
but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.
And so once again, the Lord is not here.
Being insensitive to him going to a
funeral.
That's not what this is about.
Tradition has it that the Jews,
as soon as somebody had passed away,
the body was put in the ground.
They were buried immediately. In some
instances,
that were not the case, but generally
speaking,
that was the tradition. He's not asking to
go to a funeral.
He is asking to wait until his father
passes away,
then he will come and follow Jesus.
And so the Lord says, Let the dead bury
the dead.
What he is saying is, Your family is over
here.
You want to follow the Lord, but I've got
to go take care of all of these things,
and then I'm going to follow Jesus.
The Lord says, No, if you want to follow
me,
you need to make that decision right now.
Follow me right now, for tomorrow is
promised to no one.
And then another verse 61, another also
said,
Lord, I will follow thee, but first let me
go and bid them farewell,
which are at home at my house.
And Jesus said unto them, No man having
put his hand to the plow and looking back
is fit for the kingdom of God.
What is the Lord saying? Is he being
insensitive here?
Is he saying you cannot even say goodbye?
That's not the point. The point is,
are you willing to follow the Christ and
follow him wholeheartedly,
even to the point where I'm not even gonna
say goodbye.
I have to follow the Lord. What are you
willing to do?
What have all of them doing? They're
putting family before the Savior.
I gotta go bury my father. I gotta go say
goodbye to my folks.
What are they? They're putting family
before the Savior.
And here in Luke chapter 14, the Lord
says,
You might want to calculate whether you
have what it takes to follow me,
because I am asking you to put me in front
of your family.
That is what I'm asking you.
And it is a reality that that may very
well happen in your life.
It's a reality because of what Matthew
chapter 10,
verses 34 and 36 tells us. The Lord said
in Matthew chapter 10,
34 and 36, it says, Do not think that I'm
come to bring peace on earth.
I did not come to bring peace but a sword.
For I've come to set a man against his
father,
a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her
mother-in-law,
and a man's enemies will be those of his
own household.
It's a reality, the Lord says,
that you may have to make. You may have to
make a choice between your family
and God. He says that's the reality.
Because that's what I have come to do.
Why is it? Because Christianity is not a
family religion.
What do I mean? Yes, we are the family of
God.
But in Christianity, it's not a family
religion in the sense that some people
belong
to a certain religion because their family
are members of that religion.
Some people are Catholic because their
parents were Catholic
and their great-grandparents were
Catholic,
and that's why they're Catholic.
Baptists, Methodists, go down the list.
They are what they are because their
parents have always been that.
In the Jewish religion, in the Jews,
you were born a Jew. You were born into a
covenant relationship with God.
And that covenant relationship was
recognized in circumcision on the eighth
day.
But you were born into that. That's not
Christianity.
Christianity is not a familial religion in
that way.
Christianity is different in the sense
that when you become a member of
the body of Christ, it's because you
decided you wanted to become a member
of the body of Christ. You decided based
upon hearing the gospel,
believing the gospel, being willing to
repent of sins,
confessing the name of Christ,
and being immersed in water. That was your
decision,
irrespective of what your family does.
You made the decision to follow Christ.
And because you have made that decision,
a person becoming a Christian and hearing
the good news and obeying,
because you have made that decision,
and those who are in your family have not
made that decision,
the chances are good that they may not
like that decision.
The chances are good that becoming a
Christian may not sit well with your
family,
those who are closest to you.
And if it doesn't sit well with them,
if it does not sit well with your father
and your mother,
with your wife or your husband,
with your brothers or your sisters,
what are you going to do? The Lord says.
What are you going to do? Have you thought
about it?
Because the choice is going to come.
Am I going to follow my family or am I
going to follow the Lord?
Because you can't do both. If they are
against the Lord,
you cannot follow them and follow the Lord
at the same time.
And so the Lord says you need to think
about this because it is a reality,
because Christianity is not set up as this
familial religion,
if you will, in the relation of the world,
the way the world works, even though it is
a family,
because it is an individual choice.
The reality of the matter is that
sometimes we are going to have individuals
obey
the gospel and their family is going to
shun them because they did so.
But not only is it a reality, the Lord
says you need to consider that it's
a severity.
I want you to note what he says there,
a man's enemies will be those of his own
household.
The Lord here is quoting from Micah
chapter 7 and verse 6.
And Micah writes to Judah, and Micah
writes in a time where Judah is wholly
given
to sin. And the sin in the land is so bad
that the Lord warns the faithful.
He says, There's not even a friend that
you can count on who is righteous.
There's not even someone, he says in the
text in Micah chapter 7,
there's not even someone who is in your
own bosom.
He says, the closest relationships that
you have in Judah at the time,
he says, you can't trust anyone because
all of them have given themselves over
to idolatry. And so he pulls from that
passage and he reminds Christians here
in the New Testament, and he says that the
only relationship you can count
on is vertical.
It's between you and the Lord.
And so he says, you need to understand
that when the gospel is preached
in your family, you might very well have
enemies.
Why is it? Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12.
For the word of God is living and
powerful,
and sharper than any two edged sword
piercing,
even to dividing asunder of the soul and
spirit,
and of the joints and marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents
of the heart. The word of God is powerful,
it'll cut you coming and going.
The Word of God is so powerful,
people hate it. People want to destroy it.
They don't want anything to do with it.
Why? Because what it does, it looks deep
within our hearts and it shows
us exactly who we are. And because it does
that,
we don't like it.
And those in the world definitely don't
like it.
And so as soon as you start shining your
light because you are now a Christian,
as soon as you start preaching the word of
God because you are now a Christian,
as soon as you point out, No, I'm not
going to do that because you
are now a Christian, your family might not
like that.
Many of us have been through that.
I know I've been through that in my
family.
Well, he's not gonna do that. Well,
we can't plant it on this time or that
time because he's not gonna
be involved in that, because he's gotta go
to church.
If we plant anything on Sunday morning,
he's not gonna be there because he's gotta
be somewhere in church.
They're not gonna like the fact that you
are now faithful to the Lord.
They may very well become your enemy,
and the Lord is asking them, Are you ready
for that type of heat?
You want to be a Christian? Are you ready
for that?
The Lord wants you to be saved.
He wants you to say yes, but he at least
wants you also to think about this.
God will help you. The brethren will
strengthen you and surround you.
But are you willing and ready to stand up
for Jesus when your
own family becomes your enemy?
The Lord says you need to understand.
That the that becoming a Christian,
becoming a follower of Christ is going to
require some separation from those even
who are closest to you. Now, the ideal
situation is you convert them too.
That's the ideal situation. And we hope
and pray that that does happen.
But that's not always what happens.
And so the Lord says, I need you to keep
this in mind.
There's going to be have to be separation.
You're going to have to
To separate yourself from your family if
that comes,
because you desire to me first,
you prefer me first before you prefer
them.
But not only is there separation,
the Lord also says their sacrifice.
Notice the latter part of verse
twenty-six,
where the Lord says he has to hate yes,
his own life.
He cannot be my disciple. He says,
if he doesn't, if he's not willing to
prefer me,
yea, his own life, he cannot be my
disciple.
And in verse 27, he says, And whoever does
not bear his cross and come after me,
he cannot be my disciple. I want you to
understand the language there.
It's not ambiguous. The Lord says you
cannot be his disciple.
He didn't say we're going to think about
it.
He didn't say, Well, we might wonder about
it.
He says, If you're not willing to do this,
you cannot become a Christian.
You cannot enter into Christ if you're not
willing to at least,
he says here, die to self. Some people
want to carry the cross past Calvary.
That's not what the cross is for.
People say, I'm just carrying my cross.
A cross is not a burden here. When the
Bible speaks of a cross,
it's an instrument of death. And so when
he says carrying the cross,
it means dying to self. Are you willing to
die to self?
Before you go jumping into the waters of
baptism,
have you calculated what you have to
sacrifice for me?
God does not want some of your commitment.
He does not want 80% of your attention.
He demands 100% giving of self.
And so the Lord says, you might want to
calculate that before you say yes,
before you say, I'm going to follow the
Lord.
You might want to calculate that God
demands complete sanctification.
The word sanctify means to be set apart.
You must be completely and absolutely set
apart for the service of God.
First Peter chapter 1, verses 15 and 16.
Note what it says, but as he who has
called you is completely set apart,
holy, you also be completely set apart,
holy, in all of your conduct, because it
is written,
be he completely set apart, holy,
for I am absolutely and completely set
apart,
holy. When we talk about holiness,
we're not talking about some spiritual
state.
Where there's a halo on your head and all
of those type of things.
That's the worldly concept of holy.
When the Lord refers to holiness,
it has to do with being completely and
absolutely set apart.
You belong to Him. And that does come with
a certain type
of lifestyle and righteousness.
And so God does not share servants.
God does not share servants. In Exodus
chapter 20,
verses 1 through 5, when the Lord gives
the declared the first.
Few verses there in the Ten Commandments,
what does it say? You shall have no other
gods before me.
Period. But what about the you shall have
no other gods before me?
You shall not make yourself any crave
carved image,
any likeness of anything in heaven above
or in the earth beneath,
or that is on the water under the earth.
For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous
God.
The Lord says, I will have no other gods
before me.
That was spur that was physical Israel and
spiritual Israel,
it's the same. First Peter chapter two and
verse nine.
But you are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a set apart nation, his own special
people,
that you may proclaim the praises of him
who hath called you out
of darkness into his marvelous light.
And so this is what God wants from you.
God doesn't just want some of you,
he wants all of you. Why? Luke chapter 16
and verse 13.
No servant can serve two masters.
For either he will hate the one and love
the other.
Or else he will be loyal to the one and
despise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon.
And so the Lord says, I want all of you
because you're going to try to serve both,
and it's not gonna work. You're going to
fail.
If you are 50% with God, you are 100% with
Satan.
And so the Lord says, I need you to
understand that it's going
to require some sacrifice. I need you to
understand that you need to
be willing to die to self. And if you're
going to die to self,
that's going to require a comprehensive
transformation.
Romans chapter twelve, verses one and two,
where the apostle Paul he says,
I beseech you by the mercies of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ that
you present your bodies a living
sacrifice,
wholly acceptable unto unto the Lord,
which is your reasonable service.
He says, And be not conformed to this
world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind,
that you may prove what is that good and
acceptable and perfect will of God.
Sacrificial change demands that I refuse
the ways of the world.
I'm going to have to give up something.
James chapter one and verse twenty one
wherefore lay apart
all filthiness and superfluity of
naughtiness,
and receive with meekness the engrafted
word which is able to save your soul.
That's written to Christians, by the way.
Christians who have fallen away and now
needed to recognize,
listen, you need to come back to the Lord.
And how do you do this? He says,
you do this in the same way you did it at
the very beginning.
You transform your life. You lay apart all
filthiness
and superfluity of naughtiness,
and you once again receive the word of God
with meekness,
with humility. First Peter chapter 4 and
verse 3 says,
For we have spent enough of our past
lifetime in doing the will of the
Gentiles.
He says, We spend enough time there.
And so
The Lord says there has to be a complete
transformation.
Are you willing to give up those things
which are contrary to God?
Now, you're not going to get a list,
if you will, at when you're standing there
before you obey the gospel,
and a preacher opens up and says,
Listen, let's go through the list of
everything that you have to give up.
That's not necessarily the intent.
But the intent is this.
If it is against God, I'm going to give it
up.
If I find out that it's against God,
I'm going to get rid of it. Why?
Because my mind is different. I'm willing
to sacrifice all things,
everything, so that I become faithful to
God.
I'm going to have to hate some things.
Psalm 119 104 says, Through thy precepts I
get understanding,
therefore I hate every false way.
Becoming a Christian is not becoming
indifferent towards things that are
sinful.
It is hating the things that God hates.
And loving the things that God loves.
This commitment is not about being
indifferent.
Many times we might say, Well,
I know it's sinful, I know it's immoral,
I know it's ungodly, but then we launch a
defense for why it's okay.
That's not Christianity. Are you willing
to do that?
I cannot sit on the fence when it comes to
sin,
the fence is on Satan's property.
And so I have to make a decision and say,
it's going to be a complete
transformation.
I'm going to have to hate some things.
I'm going to have to separate myself from
certain things.
I'm going to have to give up certain
things.
First Corinthians chapter 6, verses 9
through 11.
When you read that, notice who they were.
They were fornicators, idolaters,
adulterers, effeminate, homosexuals with
man ~ of themselves with mankind,
or thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,
nor revilers, nor extortioners.
He says, Those shall not inherit the
kingdom of God,
and such were some of you.
He says that's what the church used to be,
but you are no longer that. Why?
Because you have transformed your lives.
You have changed. But not only do I have
to hate some things,
I'm going to have to separate myself from
some things.
2 Corinthians chapter 14, verse rather
chapter 6,
verses 14 through 18. He gives us a list
of things he says,
you have nothing to do with
unrighteousness.
Some friendships may have to be cut off,
some relationships may have to be ended.
I'm a changed person. If you can't respect
that,
you have to go. I'm no longer that person
anymore.
I'm no longer that man anymore.
I'm no longer that woman anymore.
And if you can't respect that,
then we cannot have a relationship because
God comes first.
You need to ask yourself whether you are
willing to make those sacrifices.
You gotta ask yourself that. The Lord is
not saying,
don't follow me.
He's looking at this crowd. He's not
saying,
don't follow me. He's just saying,
I need you to think about this.
How long are you supposed to be committed
to the Lord?
How long does the Lord want me to follow
him and him only till death brings
you into his presence?
Romans 12 and verse 1 says that you need
to be a living sacrifice.
The sacrifice is contrary to the
sacrifices of bulls and goats in
the Old Testament system. You bring the
bull,
you bring the lamb, and it's a one-time
sacrifice.
He says, You are a living sacrifice,
a continual sacrifice. You need to
calculate whether you are willing
to give your entire life to him.
Longevity is often not gotten by younger
people.
That's why we don't baptize children.
I say children 'cause I can't say infants
anymore.
'Cause we got that, but we're sometimes we
baptize children.
And I the first thing I ask parents is,
Have you read Luke chapter fourteen?
Is your child able to stand and make a
decision like this requires?
We don't even give them a driver's license
till they're 17.
They can't even vote till they're 18.
Consume beverages that we should not until
they're 21,
but the most important decision in their
entire existence,
we're eight years old. It's good.
Where the Lord here turns to adults and he
says,
You need to think about this.
Christianity is not just getting in the
water and getting wet and and coming
out and saying, wow, I'm now a Christian.
It's an entire life-changing event.
And because it's an entire life-changing
event,
it requires that you think about it for a
second.
It requires that I sit down and think
about whether I have what it takes to do
this,
or else there's a sensibility part here,
last and in no wise the least.
Consider this.
In Luke chapter 14, verses 28 and 33,
the Lord says, If you don't think about
this,
if you just go into it blindly,
here's what's going to happen.
For which of you intending to build a
tower does not sit down first
and count the cost, whether he has enough
to finish it,
lest after he has laid the foundation and
is not able to finish it,
all those who begin to mock him,
saying, This man began to build and was
not able to finish.
The Lord says, You you need to think about
this.
Why? Because you're going to enter into
this thing blindly,
and I'm a Christian, and your family who
is against you,
they don't like the fact that you're a
Christian,
but this is what you're doing,
and you're walking along and you're
praying to God and you're doing
all of these things, and then you're gonna
have to give up some things,
and then you say to yourself, Well,
I just don't know. And then the family
says,
Well, I thought you were a Christian.
They begin to mock you because you didn't
think about this.
This man began to build, the Lord says,
and he was not able to finish.
Or what king going to war against another
king does not sit down first
and consider whether he is able with ten
thousand to meet him that comes against
him with twenty thousand, or else while
there the other is a great way off,
he sends a delegation and asks for
conditions of peace.
So likewise, whoever of you does not
forsake all that he has cannot be my
disciple.
He says, just think about the situation.
You don't want to get down the line in
your Christianity and have peace talks
with
Satan.
Or maybe you should take me back into the
world.
It's difficult. It's sometimes it's hard
being a Christian.
It's not hard because God made it hard.
It's hard because we make it hard for
ourselves.
And the Lord is saying, it's logical.
It is completely sensible for you to sit
down and to count the cost.
Do you have what it takes to be a
Christian?
God wants you to be. I don't want you to
leave thinking God is saying,
listen, I don't want you to be.
God wants you to be a Christian.
God wants you to follow his son.
God wants to save you. He sent his son to
die for that purpose.
But you got to think about this.
You have to think about whether you have
what it takes,
and you have to think about it ahead of
time.
He tells them, this is important,
it's sensible for you to think about this
because if you do not,
you cannot be my disciple. This entire
account.
Goes very well with the parable of the
sower.
In your own time, study the parable of the
sower and study this account together.
Because the parable of the sower
illustrates what the Lord is talking about
here.
Somebody who enters into Christ,
and then what happens? The pleasures and
the cares of this world takes them away.
That's what the Lord is trying to prevent
over here.
He tells them why this is important.
Luke chapter 14, verses 34 and 35,
and the sermon will be yours.
The Lord says, salt is good, but if the
salt has lost its flavor,
how shall it be seasoned? It is neither
fit for the land nor for the dung hill.
But men throw it out. He who has ears let
him hear.
The saltiness here is analogous with
commitment.
If you enter into this thing and you end
up like the builder or the king,
you become unfit for the purpose of God.
God can't use you if you are outside of
his son.
You become unfit for what he desires for
you.
And so the question for all of us this
morning is this something
we need to consider. Will you commit to
Christ?
Salvation is available for everyone,
but not everyone is available for
salvation.
What about you this morning? Have you
thought about this?
Have you thought about this whole being a
Christian thing?
Are you in it? Right?
As they say, are you in it to win it?
If you are a Christian, are you still
committed?
And if you have failed in that commitment
this morning,
will you once again repent, ask God's
forgiveness?
And recommit yourself once again to living
that life for the Lord because
you desire to put Him first in all things.
They say, Yes, I'm a disciple of Christ,
I'm a I'm a student of Christ,
I'm a follower of Christ. Well,
have you thought about what it takes to be
a disciple of Christ?
It's not enough to just say I'm a
Christian.
How did you become a Christian?
Because not everyone is Christian.
Not everyone is a follower of Christ.
So, how did you become a follower of
Christ?
Well, the Bible gives us an answer on how
to become a follower of Christ.
It tells us that He committed Himself to
the cross so that He can give
us access to heaven. He stayed on the
cross so that we can inherit heaven.
And so he died and he was buried,
and on the third day he rose again.
That is the glorious gospel of Jesus the
Christ.
And in order for you to be a follower of
Christ or a Christian,
you have to not only hear that gospel,
you have to believe it. You have to
believe in the death,
the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus
the Christ to the salvation of souls.
You have to believe that the Lord has made
a way for you to be saved.
And that way.
And that place to be saved is in his
church.
Sometimes we talk about the kingdom of
Christ way over here.
You need to talk about the kingdom of
Christ over here because that's
all Jesus preached. Salvation is coming
where?
It's in the kingdom. And so the kingdom of
Christ,
he says you have to believe that there is
salvation,
but then after that belief, you need to
repent of sins.
If it's contrary to God, I'm going to give
it up.
If it's not in line with God, I'm going,
not going to do those things anymore.
Acts chapter 17, verses 30 and 31.
You need to confess the good name of
Christ before witnesses,
just like the Ethiopian eunuch did.
He confessed that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God. You need to be willing to
be immersed in water to have your sins
washed away. If you want to be in Christ,
you have to do the thing that puts you
into Christ.
And Galatians chapter 3, verses 26 and 27
says that baptism puts me into Christ.
1 John 5 and verse 11 says that eternal
life is in Christ.
And in order to be in Christ, the Bible
says you have to be immersed.
And the Lord then adds you to his church.
The Lord adds you to the called out
believers of Jesus the Christ.
We don't add you, the Lord adds you.
That's what the Lord said you need to do
in order to be a follower of him.
The question for all of us this morning,
and especially for those who have not done
that,
will you do it?
If we can help you in any way,
we ask that you make it known while we
stand and as we sing.